# Should we be able to sue non-vaccinating parents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 13, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-able-to-sue-non-vaccinating-parents/666145 "2013-08-13T18:27:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-able-to-sue-non-vaccinating-parents/666145/121 "2013-08-14T21:48:00Z")
Side note: one recent welcome example of pushback against ignorance comes from Australia, where people are increasingly fed up with propaganda from the likes of the (deceptively named) Australian Vaccination Network and other antivaxers. The Chiropractic Board of Australia announced that it’s taking action against chiro members [who make bogus antivax claims](http://www.smh.com.au/national/chiropractors-pushing-antivaccination-line-face-crackdown-audits-20130808-2rkof.html#ixzz2byxf26ms): \*"Chiropractors will be forced to stop making anti-vaccination and other misleading claims in a crackdown on shonky operators from the profession’s governing board. Earlier this year Fairfax revealed chiropractors were receiving government-mandated training by anti-vaccination clinicians who believe diet and ‘‘keeping the spine in line’’ will prevent deadly diseases such as polio. On Thursday the chairman of the Chiropractic Board of Australia said it had removed some courses from its approved training schedule and would be randomly auditing practitioners to ensure they were not making unsubstantiated claims about the benefits of chiropractic. It also announced all registered chiropractors would be required to remove anti-vaccination claims from their websites. ‘‘We will not tolerate registered chiropractors giving misleading or unbalanced advice to patients, or providing advice or care that is not in the patient’s best interests,’’ chairman Phillip Donato said."\* What are the odds of U.S. chiropractic organizations taking a similar stand against antivax attitudes and other quackery commonly espoused by American chiros? I know, infinitesimal, but I can dream… Also, I love the word “shonky”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EverwonderWhy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EverwonderWhy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EverwonderWhy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-able-to-sue-non-vaccinating-parents/666145/122 "2013-08-14T21:49:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Yes, you have been pretty clear about doing the right thing. > > **EverwonderWhy** touched on it, but I’ll ask it briefly - do you support a government requirement that all healthcare workers get vaccinated? I know this isn’t direct at me, but I’ll take a shot. At the medical institution I am affiliated with - all workers, including volunteers, students and contracted workers, must show proof of MMR, Dtap, Tdap, HepB immunization et al. as a condition of employment. I highly doubt any traditional hospital would not require the same, _but particularly_ require it of an employee who works with neonates. That would be straight up negligent, IMO. According to [this](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17533060), 32 states require healthcare workers (HCWs) to be immunized, but generally even if it is not state mandated, facilities require it of HCWs on their own. Facilities may lose their accreditation if they don’t report high vaccination rates among HCWs, which can affect reimbursement rates. Now, government mandated influenza vaccinations for healthcare workers may vary more by jurisdiction and facility. (My facility requires flu shots as well, even if the state does not). More here: [Flu Epidemic: Hospitals Crack Down On Workers Who Refuse Shots](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/12/flu-vaccine-nurses_n_2464663.html) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-able-to-sue-non-vaccinating-parents/666145/123 "2013-08-15T20:53:19Z")
That article is extremely disturbing, in more ways than one. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-able-to-sue-non-vaccinating-parents/666145/124 "2013-08-22T01:13:34Z")
Bumping this up to alert people to an interesting talk by my friend Dorit on this subject on NPR: > **[Should anti-vaccine parents be held liable if their child spreads an illness?...](https://www.kpcc.org/programs/airtalk/2013/08/21/33359/should-anti-vaccination-parents-be-held-liable-if/)** > > If an unvaccinated child passes a disease onto a baby who’s too young to be vaccinated, should its parents be able to sue the infected child’s parents for negligence? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-able-to-sue-non-vaccinating-parents/666145.md?page=6)